Introduction
When we hear the name “Anna Wintour,” images of flashy models and trendy designer clothes definitely flash across our mind. This is a lady who has achieved a lot in matters pertaining to fashion and journalism. Her achievements in this million-dollar industry of fashion that cannot be overestimated as she is one if the few the most popular outstanding designers who became an inspiration for various books and movies, got plenty of world renown awards and handles both American and British divisions of Vogue magazine. Not only has she molded and brought up stars but she has also stirred up fashion magazines which were facing imminent extinction from this dynamic industry of art. Many are individuals who have scaled the heights of fashion under the guidance of this iron-fisted lady. Iron-fisted in that those who work under her have to toe the line or else they can face dire consequences such as dismissing of the whole crew or just punishing the separate individuals by pusing them mentally. Actually, she is a lady in her own world, who cannot accept to be directed by anyone. She prefers to be at the helm and having things done her own way. Many times this has elicited huge oppositions if not grumbling from her juniors. The book, The Devil Wears Prada which highlights the life of one Miranda Priestly (played by Meryl Streep) and how she would order her staff around is actually a depiction of Anna’s activities at the helm of Vogue magazine. Surely, from the above-highlighted fact, you will love Anna Wintour’s art but you will definitely hate the artist (Weisberger, 13). In spite of all of the autocratic and totalitarian approaches and attitude toward her co-workers, we cannot ignore the tremendous contributions of Anna Wirntour to the world of fashion and design.
History
Anna was born on November 3rd, 1949 to the London-based editor of the evening standard Charles Wintour and Trego Baker. She acquired her elementary education at North London Collegiate School. In her schooling years, her dressing style always elicited sharp criticism from her peers as well as her teachers. She tended to wear a rebellious outfit, black sunglasses of a big size, high heels and a unique bob hairstyle that is hardly changed since that time. This was largely attributed to the way she wore her dress. This aspect points out cases of controversy in Wintour’s early life (Weiss). A child of her age would usually have preferred to dress like her peers and not coming up with a new way of dressing. In the real sense, this required a lot of confidence from her side apart from creativity.
Since her early childhood, Anna had always been a fashion enthusiast evidenced by her mode of dressing which always stood out from the other kids of her age. Most of the children tends to wear what is weared by their mates, while Anna tried to expose herself through her appearance. Her style of bob hair, high heels and big dark sunglasses reflects her personality as a woman who want to emphasize her independence, but still have a lot of feminine features. Her father also played a great role in her development of interest towards fashion. One such occasion which can by highlighted is in his getting her a job at one of the most influential boutiques in London, the Biba boutique, when she was 15 years of age. Apart from that, the youth relevant information in the newspaper heralded the development of her interest in the media industry (Weiss).
In 1966, provided that she dropped out of her fancy high school, her parents requested her to enroll in fashion classes at a school nearby of which she obliged. However, she was soon to give up on the studies under the pretext that fashion was not supposed to be learned but rather practiced. Her exact words were “You either know fashion or you don’t” (Weiss). This is another case of controversy in the artist’s early life. Most people her age would have preferred to go to school knowing the importance of studying. She either did not recognize the importance of studying or she was just being a rebel to the widely understood path towards success which was studying (Weiss).
She was later to acquire magazine production experience from her boyfriend Richard Neville who was managing OZ. Her stint at the editorial desk of Harper’s Bazaar in the UK also helped her earn essential skills in the journalism field and specifically the fashion journalism aspect. She was later to ditch the position after rivalry and disagreements from Min Hogg. From there, she proceeded to New York with her new boyfriend Jon Bradshaw (Weiss). It was New York that she became a junior fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Her innovative nature led her to be fired only within nine months since she was to radical and eccentric in her expressions. She even brought her own table to the office as she was not fond of other people and considered herself much superior (Weiss). Her early childhood activities were in a way a preparation towards her career later in life- the American vogue magazine has been under her stewardship since 1988 to the present. Apart from her full-time job as a publisher, she has also had a stint in different other fields notably the fashion industry as editing in Condé Nast and helping making career for such famous designers as McQueen and Jacobs. Her interest in this field also developed from her formative years (Weiss).
Wintour can be termed as controversial due to her talents and manners in many ways. For instance, the unique way she used to dress when she was a young girl was something out of the ordinary. Her dislike to follow the norms made her stand out from the crowd. This also followed her to her working place where her innovativeness put her at loggerheads with her superiors, people, who could not understand he notion of fashion and sometimes refused to acclaim her talent. She would invent a new way of doing things which did not augur well with her bosses at Harper`s Bazar and other New York and London publications. Apart from that, the lady had a habit of getting in and out of relationships as she chose. She has dated many men in her life. At the age of fifteen, she was dating men almost twice her age. Moreover, her dating life too started out quite early which is quite a deviant behaviour for an ordinary teenager. Such a young start of dating life results in Wintour having a big amount of lovers and a very rackety way of life. It is quite clear that Anna is almost synonymous with controversy just from the many highlighted instances in her life (Oppenheimer).
Mid-career and late career.
Generally, Anna Wintour has occupied her post at Vogue magazine for over 20 years now. Her activities towards the end of her career are more focused towards the expansion of the magazine into areas never covered before like the inclusion of the men issues and creating the female division of Vogue, which means that she decided to create similar magazine that would observe the latest trends of men fashion. Just as Woman`s Vogue, Men`s edition is a monthly publication that exposes all the news about the world of fashion, design, celebrities. sport, culture and hi-tech. The portraits of many famous people appeared on the cover of the magazine and some of them such as Will Smith, were appreciated for their political and cultural relevance. The magazine is also famous for presenting its own list of American talents in the field of fashion and design that included men of fashion and art, such as Ralph Lauren, Owen Wilson, Wes Anderson. She has also decided to aid in the development of upcoming artists by developing a fund for them. Apart from that, she is now into the brokering of deals between designers and retailers for instance Thom Browne and Brooks Brothers who needed her intervention in order to arrive at a deal and bring the profit of more than 10 millions from the collection on North (Gateway).
According to A&E Television Networks, Anna Wintour made a number of critical interventions over time. For instance, in 1987, where she had been appointed as an editor of the Home and Garden, she managed to make radical changes which completely overturned the tables. Among them was rejecting articles and photos which were valued at more than $2 million thinking that they would completely disappoint he reader and put the magazine in bad light. This was a risk she took and it paid off as the magazine was able to improve its outlook and subsequently had improved sales. Anna Wintour made her interventions at Vogue magazine New York branch when the magazine was under threat from an upcoming magazine Elle which was a startup magazine. The Vogue’s subscriptions had stagnated at 1.2 million while its new rival the Elle was quickly gaining a market base at high rates. In that short time, it had acquired around 850000 subscriptions. This greatly worried Anna Wintour who was then the head of the Vogue magazine (biography.com)
In response, she initiated radical measures which involved taking freedom in changing the models outfit according to her own choice and departing from the norm in matters pertaining to the publishing of the magazine in a manner of including only her own vision and ignoring the set trends of fashion. She also solicited for maximum financial backing towards the new course from the other designers and fashion magazines publishers. Through her interventions, the magazines preeminence was finally restored with the company finally establishing its presence firmly in the market by having the best selling records, beating the famous Elle magazine. Anna had succeeded in her intervention. The other intervention she made is in her managing to replace supermodels with celebrities as the main cover page of the vogue magazine. This was a step made in a new direction and of which elicited a lot of comments from both supports and critics. But it finally helped in pushing the newspaper sales to new limits (Biography.com Editors).
Her very long stay at the top of the Vogue magazine is one of the greatest long-term failures which will affect her empire and legacy. As it is, it will be very difficult for someone else to fit in her shoes once she vacates the office. This issue is largely attributed to her desire to overstay in the office (Toomey). In spite of the fact that she was doing an outstanding work and has thus been recognized in the field of art, the artist has failed to provide guidance to one who will see to it that her legacy is upheld at all time. It will, therefore, be extremely hard for her replacement to emulate what she has done over the years to an extent where Anna Wintour and Vogue can easily be used interchangeably. However, her success will generally be the foundation which has given the vogue magazine. It will be a long time before any worthy competitor can challenge the vogue magazine effectively in the market (Toomey).
The research supports my claim by highlighting the specific activities which led to the success of the company. The research gives the actual details like the amount of money which was at stake in the risk-taking initiatives she took throughout her tenure. The article also highlights the opposition which she faced in her activities of making radical measures, it actually elicited a lot of criticism from her opponents.
Anna Wintour’s Legacy
Anna Wintour has established a thriving fashion empire. This ranges from the journalism aspect of fashion to the designing of high-class attires. In her leadership role at Vogue magazine, she has played a mentorship role to some of the most influential fashion designers of all time. Some of the well-renowned individuals she has mentored include John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs and even Zac Posen (Oppenheimer). She imparted a lot of advice and guidance into them (Oppenheimer).
Her role in the support of upcoming artists is another achievement which is sure to make a huge impact in the field of art and fashion. She has done this through the establishment of a fund for promotion and supporting the young designers who are just starting their path named and closely associated with the Vogue magazine. The success of which she has managed to solicit the aid of some of the most influential people in ensuring that the fund drive comes to a success is also another outstanding achievement. Many biographers suggest that this lady is a go-getter, whatever she wants she finds a way of possessing it (Oppenheimer). This seems to be the rule and not the exception. This explains why the drive was able to expand to over 16 countries in such a short time (Oppenheimer).
The decision to depict the pictures of celebrities on the cover of Vogue magazine was one of the best decisions she made in her position as the leader and the editor of Vogue magazine. She put Naomi Campbell on the cover of September`s issue in 1989. This revolution was able to catapult the magazine to heights never witnessed in this industry before (Oppenheimer). It instantly made the magazine an overnight sensation with everyone wanting to get a copy of the magazine. It immediately sent shockwaves throughout the industry whereby all fashion magazines would want to have a picture of a famous woman on its cover page. It surely initiated a revolution which affected and changed the status quo of all fashion magazines. She heralded the generation of celebrity propagated fashion industry with the celebrities efficiently and effectively making a greater impact compared to the fashion shows (Oppenheimer). Her decisions enabled Vogue sales to drive through the roof. It was not business as usual after the steps she took (Oppenheimer).
Anna`s early works were spent in the developments of her career through short stints she had in different fashion journalism magazines. The experience of working in several famous publications gave her a wide exposure under different leader and editors in the field of fashion. This was, in essence, a stepping stone to the role which she later acquired at Vogue magazine in 1988. The magazine during that time was quite reserved and did not feature celebrities or full-figured women. This comes to change due to the great influence which the lady wielded, the new trends of the fashion and her nature of being innovative and trying out new things (Borelli).
Wintour had a talent in the field of journalism and specifically fashion journalism. Her eye was not talented in the way that she knew how to do a beautiful thing, but she had her own vision of the fashion and she was not afraid of proving it. She had great skills which could not be matched by anyone else. Besides of being a great designer and having an eye for modern trends, she knew how to manage business and rule the magazine. This proves why she has been able to stay at the helm of Vogue magazine or over 21 years. It is simply because she has got talent and people, who love what she does, her followers and readers of the magazine. Apart from that, she has been able to put Vogue magazine at the forefront above all the other magazines and for many years, no one has given her a worthy challenge because there were no healthy rivalry and no worthy opponents. This just proves how talented this artist and journalist is. It is no mean fit to manage such a dynamic field like fashion for more than two decades and never face any big challenge. It just explains how talented such an individual must be.
The measurement of success in the field of journalism is definitely the number of copies sold in a specific period of time. Wintour has been able to showcase a lot of success in this industry and this can be attested to by the large number of Vogue magazines that she has been able to sell. Actually, she is unrivaled in her fields of art. No one has ever sold such a large number of magazines like the number which Anna Wintour was able to sell. For example, she was able to increase the sellings of the magazine from almost 800,000 of issues to 1,2 millions in a first few months of her ruling over Vogue while her rivals could hardly achieve the set of 800,000 issues. Therefore, in comparison using the number of copies sold, we can be in a good position to conclude that Anna Wintour is the most successful editor the field of fashion in all time.
Controversial Aspects
Her controversial behavior as outlined above has always had a positive influence in the art industry. In spite of the many criticisms against her strict stance and way of handling her affairs, it has always proved to be the distinction between her outstanding work and the works of other rival editors. She has managed to instill a lot of discipline and organization into her workforce hence making it deliver outstanding work throughout the years. Apart from that, she has always managed to influence the fashion world through her mode of dressing which she chooses meticulously to match each occasion, the same trait has been reflected in her staff who are also required to dress in the trendiest attires hence promoting the fashion industry art (Toomey).
Despite her achievements and legacy in the fashion industry, there have been many negative things that have been said about Anna Wintour. Tim-Gunn the editor of the Vogue said that despite the much respect has for Anna it would have been otherwise useful and important for her to tour the world with more respect. This is enough evidence that she had no respect for the way she dealt with some people more especially those below her. There was also an incident where Anna was rude in the way she treated a flight attendant who just wanted to meet her and say hello. In fact, she did not even allowed him to lean and do it (Lee). According to several interviews, there are plenty of examples of Anna`s autocratic behaviour. Once, she did not want to go down five steps, so she made her bodyguards to make a firemen lock and carry her down (Lee). This is very evident in Tim Gunn’s book in which he exposed her former worker mate. As a normal person with her capacity as well as the fame, it would have otherwise been ethical enough to ensure that she shows more humility to all she deals with both mighty and those from the lowly class. It is actually out of order that for someone of her caliber to have such absurd behavior (Alyssa).
Giving back to the society is indeed a good thing but when done out of selfishness it lacks its real purpose. This is the actually fact of what Anna was doing. The fact that she was spending over $200,000 on her clothes and donating less than a fifth of the same on charity provokes a lot of questions. It is difficult to tell whether the charity was meant as part of her corporate social responsibility or whether it was for fun since out of her huge salary of about $ 2000,000 salaries it sounds weird to only give less than $50,000 in the form of charity (Gateway).
The character is very key in everyone is life. Humility is one of the major ingredients when it comes to building someone’s character. This is one of the major things that Anna lacked. The fact that she did not appreciate those below her in when it comes due to her position explains a lot. Unlike most successful people who usually try to be humble in an attempt to mentor those below them, it was very difficult for her to overlook her position and mentor those below her. This invites a lot of rhetoric question on whether she had the virtue of patience.
This research has supported my claim as it clearly shows how the artist’s activities were disliked by many people her staff included due to the many demands she places upon them on a routine basis as it is depicted in the book by Tim Gunn. However, her activities are able to herald a new change and dawn in the industry through the pumping of new ideas initiated through her tough and revolutionary nature.
The research has challenged my claim in that a different personality who is hard working and focused is hiding behind the tough stances and the image of a rebellious woman who is not afraid to expose her true nature through the fashion we are seeing.
Conclusion
As highlighted throughout the text and the evidence quoted, it is quite clear that Anna Wintour is an individual who can be disliked on a personal basis due to her strictness and bossy nature but her output and influence in the world of art is clearly outstanding if not revolutionary in nature. She has managed to prove her worth through her actions and the results she displays.
Works cited
Alyssa, Toomey. Tim Gunn Trashes Anna Wintour's ''Bad Behavior,'' Admits He Hated Heidi Klum's Dress at the 2015 Emmys (2015) retrieved on 28th April 2016, from http://www.eonline.com/news/701489/tim-gunn-trashes-anna-wintour-s-bad-behavior-admits-he-hated-heidi-klum-s-dress-at-the-2015-emmys-watch
Borrelli, Laird O'shea. "Dressing up and talking about it: Fashion writing in Vogue from 1968 to 1993." Fashion Theory 1.3 (1997): 247-259.
Biography.com Editors. Anna Wintour Biography.The Biography.com website. A&E Television Networks. April 27, 2016.
http://www.biography.com/people/anna-wintour-214147#charity-and-personal-lif
Gateway. Anna Wintour, Legendary Editor of Vogue, To Speak At Pratt on April 19. Gateway the Community Newsletter of Pratt Institute. 2010. https://www.pratt.edu/uploads/30Mar10_Gateway.pdf
Lee, Esther. "Tim Gunn Is Still Feuding With Anna Wintour, Likens Her To Medusa". Us Weekly. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 May 2016.
MacSweeney, Eve, and Anna Wintour. Nostalgia in Vogue: 2000-2010. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2011. Print. 200
Oppenheimer, Jerry. Front Row: Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief. Macmillan, 2007.
Oppenheimer, Jerry. Front Row: Anna Wintour: What Lies Beneath the Chic Exterior of Vogue's Editor-in-Chief., 2006. Internet resource.
Weisberger, Lauren. The Devil Wears Prada. New York, NY: Harper, 2014. Internet resource.
Weiss, David. “That’s Part of What We Do”: The Performative Power of Vogue’s Anna Wintour. Journal of Magazine & New Media Research. 2014. https://cjdept.unm.edu/research/recent/docs/weiss-thats-part-of-what-we-do-chapter-2014.pdf
